It's also unclear if it's the laws alone that saved those 57 kids. If the laws didn't exist, presumably some of those 57 kids would still have been in rear-facing child seats, and would have survived, no? (Unless their study accounted for that, and the end result was 57.)

But it is an interesting thing to think about. Sure, 57 children dying would create a lot of misery for a family (and extended family), but would 8,000 other children in the world, presumably giving their families happiness, somehow "make up for it"?

Feels odd to think about it in those terms. Balancing/trading lives is a dirty business.